The poet, Seamus Heaney, argues that transformations for both teachers and students may be engendered through recognising the connections and distinctions between the language of poetry and the language of everyday life. This article explores some of the ways in which choral reading of poetry, using multiple voices like musical instruments, may…

This study evaluated the benefits of item enhancements applied to science-inquiry items for incorporation into an alternate assessment based on modified achievement standards for high school students. Six items were included in the cognitive lab sessions involving both students with and without disabilities. The enhancements (e.g., use of visuals,…

"Repeated reading" is an academic practice that aims to increase oral reading fluency. "Repeated reading" can be used with students who have developed initial word reading skills but demonstrate inadequate reading fluency for their grade level. During "repeated reading," a student sits in a quiet location with a…

This paper examines students' activity during reading hour in a multicultural secondary school in Madrid (Spain). It discusses two dimensions of the event: (1) How elements such as body posture, reading volume, reading speed and clarity were used by students to position themselves in relation to their linguistic competencies, the social order of…

Both content area teachers and reading teachers often see oral reading in epic proportions, as a hero in the struggle for the best way to motivate students to read. This article briefly reviews the reasons that are commonly given for supporting the use of oral reading in the classroom. The author then provides a rationale for opposing traditional…

easyCBM[R] is an online benchmark and progress monitoring assessment system designed for use within a response to intervention (RTI) framework. Part of the purpose of easyCBM[R] is to help educators identify students who may be at risk for academic failure. Often, students deemed at risk are those who would be predicted to not pass the state test.…

In the current study, 42 secondary students (10th, 11th, and 12th grade students) and 51 elementary students (4th and 5th grade students) read 400 word passages silently and aloud. During aloud reading, words correct per minute (WCPM) were recorded. After reading each passage, students answered 10 multiple-choice comprehension questions. Results…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of using re-reading as a consequence for failing to read passages rapidly with zero errors using the "Direct Instruction approach with Corrective Reading, Skills Applications: Decoding C" (Engelmann, Meyer, Johnson, & Carnine, 1988). The participant was a 16-year-old high school student…

In this study, we investigated the impact of a student-reads-aloud accommodation on the performance of middle school and high school students with and without learning disabilities (LD) on a test of reading comprehension. Data for the analyses came from 311 students (n = 230 with LD) who took alternate forms of a reading test in a standard and an…

This technical report presents an overview of a reading assessment used by a large school district in the Pacific Northwest. It provides sufficient background information to enable those unfamiliar with the assessment to understand the various subtests that comprise it as well as its development and application in the district for making…